After dinner broke up the other night, we were provided quarters and… well, you know the entertainment I wrote of? Well, apparently to immortal beings with seemingly limitless resources, ‘entertainment’ extends to what happens in a bedroom, as well.

I just… can’t get this out of my head! So I may as well try to write it down and work through some of the frustrations before we go off on our next jaunt. Well, here goes.

When the concierge escorted us to our lavish, separate quarters, he asked us a question: whether or not we would like a male, female, or both. Kenari opted for a masseuse of any gender, she didn’t care. Obviously, she’s on a strictly Dassam diet, or maybe only likes other Catfolk that way. Immediately, Ef said he wanted a female, Lenata wanted a male, and when they turned their expectant gazes on me, I froze up and blushed. Lenata smiled knowingly and Ef just smirked, saying “both” in unison. I felt utterly exposed and… well, hurt, I guess. Was I that easily dismissed? I stammered something like “A-a male. Just a male,” and shut myself in my quarters to sit on the bed and tremble. And wait.

He came to me, muscles all oiled and in some skimpy toga, smelling faintly of some exotic masculine scent, ready to ‘service’ me. He was tan with dark hair and violet eyes that almost glowed against his dark complexion. Nothing but the best for the Reigar’s honored guests. I shook harder, but tried to hide it. He was a beautiful specimen, and all I could think about was what the others were doing with their ‘gifts.’ He was perceptive and considerate.

“Would you prefer I leave, my Lady?” I could not place his accent.

“Ah, no. No I’m not rejecting you,” I stumbled over words. This was the first time I’d had a stranger come to me, paid to give me pleasure. I was trying hard to wrap my head around the concept, to reconcile how I felt about it with the reality. He never stopped smiling that gentle smile and he came around behind me to settle warm, sure hands on my shoulders.

“You are wound up so tight. Please allow me to relieve some of that.”

I sighed and relaxed into his touch. He took his time, allowing me to become accustomed to his presence, and was very skilled and very thorough. “Would you like me to unwind your braids, Lady? Surely they must be hurting your scalp. I would love to brush your hair for you,” he offered.

I stopped his fingers with a gentle touch of my own and shook my head ‘no’. “My people do not… unbind their hair when not with those in their immediate family. The braids are a reminder of how important our self-control is to our society. The unbraiding of my hair would happen on my wedding night,” I explained. “It is not something I would recommend unless there was a strong bond of trust between us. I only take them down when I am completely alone,” I shrugged, toying with the embroidery on the duvet.

“Ah. I understand a little, I think,” he smiled and resumed the massage, leaving my hair alone. “Your people, do they all have skin like you do?”

I glanced down at the shimmer showing in the lantern light. “Yes,” I said simply, “all to some extent. Some have more than others.” The massage and the conversation was helping me to feel much better. Normally, I would be reluctant to talk about myself for any length of time, used to being more unusual than those around me, but after everywhere I’ve been and all I’ve seen, my strangeness doesn’t bother me so much any more. I realize that I’ve quit wearing my veils in public to cover up and more as the accessories they were meant to be. I stopped caring about the curious looks. For the first time in a long while I was feeling comfortable in my own skin. What a thought!

What followed was a natural progression from comfort to passion, like a long drawn-out sigh, as he manipulated my body masterfully. After, I felt relaxed and happy. He made to get up. It was still dark.

“Please stay,” I requested softly, and he returned to hold me while I slept. When I awoke, he was gone, but the pillow was still warm. I looked up at the canopy and pondered, still feeling the effects of having a good night’s rest after a lovely time. I stretched luxuriously, smiling. I never even asked his name, nor he mine. I decided to take the night as the gift it was intended to be. Trust Tain to know exactly what I needed? Not likely, but the thought was there, in a backhanded sort of way. I wondered if I’d ever see that beautiful violet-eyed man again. Also unlikely.

I dressed and went to breakfast, humming a merry little tune. My spirits remained elevated until Ef went to go pay a visit to his merry widow friend. Well, apparently I am easily forgotten after all. I resigned to lose myself in something I generally don’t: research. Tain’s library is immense as it is eclectic. There was bound to be something helpful in the way of knowledge about the Planes, or so I thought. He only had the barest glimpses of things, including the same map of the planes I’ve seen in every other book I’ve found on the subject. It even looked like it was done by the same artist, perhaps the same rendering. Still, it was more than I knew before we started this journey. I came from a weird plane, that doesn’t mean that I know everything about the others, or much of anything about my own. The transition between Dream and Prime was a lot like waking up. I don’t remember much. So far intuition has served me well, but I can’t expect to be so lucky all the time.

We shove off in a day or so because we missed our first departure window. The Arcane are very particular about windows of departures and arrivals. It’s all very complicated and to not regulate that would cause chaos and confusion in their very busy trading lanes. Never having seen a mid-air spelljammer collision, I can still say that I never want to. So we play the waiting game once more. Everything is ready. Our new crew members are on board. The Elves sent us a Shu Seer, a prissy, pissy female elf as our engineer, and a FAT elven Xenobiologist. Honestly, who ever heard of a fat elf? We’ve already had one of his creatures try to break free. He came out chasing it and I dropped it with a little bit of power. That ‘sleep’ ability Luigi taught me still comes in handy.

We’ve taken on one more crew member besides the ones sent by the EIN. Dassam has come to join our merry band of misfits. I’m happy for Kenari’s sake, but I’m wary that he might be joining us for nefarious reasons under the guise of ‘love.’ I haven’t been so cruel as to mention the thought to Kenari. I’m sure she’ll be keeping a close eye on him while she’s not keeping him tied up in her quarters. That’s why we missed the first window: he came running up the docks as we were pulling out. Landing and getting him aboard cost us. Delays and more delays. Perhaps the Powers are stalling us for some reason?

• * * * * * *

Well, now, that’s interesting. I’ve just received an invitation from Tain for the command staff to go out for drinks. His tone was positively smug and he’d mentioned something about the bar being ‘in town.’ Could it be that he’s taking us out to the World Serpent? That would be something, wouldn’t it? I can’t imagine how he’ll react when we tell him that we’ve been before. Maybe he’ll be mollified when we tell him about escaping from Ravenloft?

I told his messenger that we’d be happy to come. Now to inform the rest of my fellows…